1. Field
Provided herein are electronic devices assembled with thermally insulating layers.
2. Brief Description of Related Technology
As microelectronic circuitry continues to shrink in size and the capacity of the circuitry in terms of functionality continues to increase, the heat generated by the circuitry when in use becomes more and more of a problem for manufacturers and end users. Put another way, the level of heat generated is related to the performance of the semiconductor package, with more highly performing devices generating greater levels of heat. For instance, the semiconductor packages assembled on the circuit board within the consumer electronic device, for instance, such as those found in central and graphics processing units, chipsets, battery and voltage regulators, all generate heat as a normal by-product of operation. The semiconductor packages generate heat that needs to be managed in order to increase the life of the package, minimize design limitations and increase performance of the package, and consequently the life and performance of the consumer electronic device.
Thermal management materials are well known for dissipating heat generated by the circuitry and fans placed at strategic locations within the electronic device also draws heat away from the circuitry, or thermal module. The excess heat is diverted away from the semiconductor package to a heat sink or the thermal module with a thermal interface material (“TIM”), oftentimes disposed between the semiconductor package and the heat sink or thermal module.
However, these strategies to manage generated heat have created new problems, as the hot air is directed away from the immediate environment of the semiconductor package toward the interior of the housing of the device.
More specifically, in a conventional laptop or notebook computer (shown in FIG. 2), a housing exists under which are the components below the keyboard (shown in FIG. 3). The components include a heat sink, a heat pipe (disposed above a CPU chip), a fan, a slot for the PCMIA card, a hard drive, a battery, and a bay for a DVD drive. The hard drive is disposed under the left palm rest and the battery under the right. Oftentimes, the hard drive operates at high temperatures, resulting in uncomfortable palm rest touch temperatures, despite the use of cooling components to dissipate this heat. This may lead to end user consumer discomfort due to hot temperatures attained at certain portions of the exterior of the device when the devices are used.
One solution to mute the high in use temperatures observed by the end user at the palm rest position, for instance, is to use natural graphite heat spreaders disposed at strategic locations. These heat spreaders are reported to distribute heat evenly while providing thermal insulation through the thickness of the material. One such graphite material is available commercially as eGraf® SpreaderShield™, from GrafTech Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. [See M. Smalc et al., “Thermal Performance Of Natural Graphite Heat Spreaders”, Proc. IPACK2005, Interpack 2005-73073 (July, 2005); see also U.S. Pat. No. 6,482,520.]
Alternative solutions are desirable and would be advantageous, as there is a growing need in the marketplace for ways in which to manage the heat generated by such semiconductor packages used in electronic devices so that end user consumers do not feel discomfort due to the generated heat when they are used. Balanced against this need is the recognition that designers of semiconductor chips will continue to reduce the size and geometry of the semiconductor chips and semiconductor packages but increase their capacity, so as to make the electronic devices appealing for the consumer, but in so doing causing the semiconductor chips and semiconductor packages to continue to operate at elevated temperature conditions. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to satisfy this growing, unmet need, with alternative technologies to encourage the design and development of even more powerful consumer electronic devices, which are not hot to the touch in operation.
This need has been unmet. Until now.